Aptonet is hiring: Tier 2 Deskside Hardware Technician in Rockville

Tier 2 Deskside Hardware Technician

Location: Rockville, MD (with required travel to Mount Weather, Bluemont, VA)

Role Summary

Seeking a customer-focused Tier 2 Deskside/System Technician to provide on-site 7x24x365 deskside and systems support for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). This role supports NRC end users—specifically NSIR users—at the primary site in Rockville, MD, with required travel to Mount Weather, Bluemont, VA as needed. The position operates in a fast-paced government environment and requires hands-on technical support, strong communication skills, and the ability to work under tight schedules.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as the primary on-site point of contact for Tier 2 deskside engineering and break/fix support for desktop and laptop devices.
• Provide non-disruptive deskside support for deployment of Windows 10 and Windows 11 configured hardware.
• Configure, deploy, maintain, and support laptops, desktops, thin clients, and mobile devices, including associated peripherals.
• Perform hardware and software procurement, deployment, asset control, and disposal activities.
• Maintain and support a high-availability environment using virtualization and redundancy best practices.
• Perform systems maintenance, including software upgrades, backups, recovery, and file maintenance.
• Review systems weekly for critical updates, including preparation for exercises and response to emerging threats.
• Provide on-call after-hours support for Production Operating Environment (POE) system issues as required.
• Support practice, mock, and real DR/COOP exercises on-site.
• Liaise with Tier 3 teams for changes, upgrades, and escalations.
• Document all incidents, resolutions, and activities in ServiceNow ITSM, meeting defined resolution-time standards.
• Escalate issues to leads or management when solutions are unclear.
• Provide guided hands-on network or system support for site-specific customer needs.
• Perform duties that may require heavy lifting and movement of IT equipment.

Required Technical Skills

• Hands-on experience deploying Dell laptop and desktop devices using Windows 10 and Windows 11 images.
• Break/fix deskside support for end-user computing devices.
• Experience using ServiceNow ITSM for ticketing, CMDB updates, and documentation.
• Knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite.
• Strong analytical and troubleshooting skills, including diagnosing patch-related issues.
• Ability to ensure workstation compliance with security patches and requirements.
• Strong documentation skills for troubleshooting, failed patch deployments, and remediation reporting.

Preferred / Nice-to-Have Skills

• Experience in:
• Software testing
• System administration
• IT operations
• Enterprise IT environments
• Patch deployment and validation
• Test automation frameworks
• Certifications (or proficiency toward):
• CompTIA A+
• CompTIA Security+
• CompTIA Network+
• Microsoft certifications
• Ability to obtain ITIL 4 Foundation certification

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor’s degree with 3+ years of relevant experience, or equivalent experience in lieu of a degree.
• Excellent customer communication, organizational, and time-management skills.
• Comfortable working in a government on-site environment with no telework.
• Ability to travel as needed between Rockville, MD and Bluemont, VA.
• U.S. Citizenship or U.S. Permanent Residency required.
• Must be able to obtain and maintain an NRC Public Trust Security Clearance prior to start (process may take 1–4 months).
• Position is covered under the Service Contract Act (SCA) and includes required Health & Welfare provisions.